Smallholder institutions and organizations

IFAD's comparative advantage lies in its experience in working at the grass-roots level, its understanding of the constraints facing rural poor people, including the most vulnerable, and its capacity to envisage inclusive approaches for socio-economic development. A key element of IFAD’s approach to development is providing support to rural smallholder organizations as a strategy for empowering the rural poor. Strong inclusive smallholder organizations with large membership are important partners for governments, NGOs, donors and private-sector actors seeking new markets. Smallholder organizations represent an entry point for providing small-scale producers with an array of services that enhance their access to natural resources, input and output markets, information and knowledge; improve their management of natural resources; and facilitate their participation in policymaking. Scaling up smallholder organizations has the potential to generate socio-economic benefits for large numbers of poor people relatively rapidly.